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Untitled (Woman carrying a basket and umbrella) by Unknown artist - Reverse glass painting / 19th century - Queensland Art Gallery (Brisbane, Australia) #WomenInArt #art #GlassArt #GlassPainting #artText #PortraitofaWoman #BlueskyArt #artwork #QueenslandArtGallery #QAGOMA #ChineseArt #artbsky #1800s
A Southeast Asian woman is depicted walking while carrying an orange basket in one hand and holding a closed black parasol in the other. She wears simple 19th-century attire with a teal tunic and black pants, her figure shown with careful outlines and bright colors characteristic of reverse glass painting. She stands near bamboo trees on a path lined with a short patterned stone wall. “Untitled (Woman carrying a basket and umbrella),” a 19th-century reverse glass painting of unknown authorship in the Queensland Art Gallery, is a delicate yet vivid glimpse into everyday life as imagined through a demanding artistic medium. The image presents a woman in motion, balancing a basket—likely filled with goods for market or domestic use—while holding an umbrella, a dual symbol of practicality and refinement. Her figure, simple yet dignified, captures a fleeting moment of ordinary life, transformed into something luminous through the unique qualities of reverse glass painting. The technique, which involves applying paint to the back surface of a glass panel and viewing the completed image from the front, demands unusual precision: fine details such as facial features or decorative motifs must be painted first, followed by successive layers that gradually build the background. This inversion of the common process of painting creates sharp outlines, jewel-like colors, and a striking clarity that has made reverse glass works prized across continents. The subject here—a lone woman carrying her daily burdens—reflects a visual language attuned to ordinary labor, but her inclusion of an umbrella also suggests aspirations of status and gentility. In many Asian contexts, parasols symbolized protection from the sun, fair complexion, and social grace, while baskets of produce or wares represented the economic backbone of rural and urban households alike. As such, this work embodies both survival and respectability: the rhythms of work and the cultural codes of appearance.
August 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
courageconquers.bsky.social
“Two Soldiers” by Hilda Rix Nicholas, 1918, #QueenslandArtGallery. Here is another of this #Australian artist’s magnificent pieces. Simple yet moving, it captures the human quality of soldiers in war. #fwwhist #wwI #WW1 #combatart #RixNicholas #ANZAC #ANZACs
May 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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Karla Dickens #queenslandartgallery
March 21, 2025 at 4:56 AM